Autumn 2002 PW 5 - Cranfield University

20
ALUMNI INFO
Globally
great
Brian Jones, Cranfield Honorary
Graduate from 2000 (see
Password Summer 2000) and also
Mission Control Director for
QinetiQ 1, the team attempting to
beat the air balloon world record,
established in the ’60s by the
American military, are to fly a
balloon to 132,000 feet. The team
are currently on board the QinetiQ
ship, Triton, and should have
flown during August, weather
permitting.
Former Cranfield student Stuart
Robertson clocked up his
maiden race engineering victory in
the British F3 Scholarship
Championship. His driver, Justin
Sherwood, won at Croft in May.
Emeritus Professor and
Honorary Graduate Dr Arthur
Lefebvre has been honored by
ASME International, the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers,
for teaching excellence and
research contributions to fuel
atomisers in gas turbine
combustion.
He received the 2002 George
Westinghouse Gold Medal and a
$1,500 honorarium. Both were
presented at the ASME TURBO
EXPO conference held in
Amsterdam in early June.
Sir Colin Chandler, Pro-
Chancellor of Cranfield
University, is to be Chairman of
leading low-cost airline easyJet in a
wholesale change to the company’s
structure following representations
by institutional investors.
Sir Colin was appointed Deputy
Chairman with immediate effect,
and will take over as Chairman
when Stelios Haji-Ioannou resigns
at the 2003 AGM.
Former Cranfield student Lee
Balthazor is the new President of the
Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS), the
second year running that the presidency
has been awarded to a Cranfield
alumnus.
Professor Ian Poll, Director of CCoA,
handed over to Lee at a ceremony at the
RAeS in May.
Ian has spent an active year presiding
at several inaugurations and lecturing to
RAeS branches around the globe. While
travelling, he takes every opportunity to
contact former students, so his trips have
also helped to generate university
alumni groups in several countries.
Involved
Lee has been involved with most areas
of RAeS activity, working with or within
the aerospace industry, armed services,
government agencies and academia. He
held corporate responsibility as Senior
Vice President in British Aerospace and,
as Director of the MoD (PE) Procurement
Management Group at Portsmouth
Business School, he was responsible for
developing MoD staff. He is now a risk
management consultant with a number
of aerospace companies and is involved
with several university programmes.
Having held a pilot’s licence since he
was 16, he continues to fly today.
At his inaugural address Lee said:
“The challenge for aerospace
professionals today requires good
understanding between manufacturing
industry, operations, finance, governments
and academia, to enable the right
decisions to be made for both short-term
expediency and long-term sustainability.
It is in this multi-disciplinary arena that
our RAeS members play a key role in
strengthening the long-term future of
aerospace, as well as meeting short-term
objectives through cost and time savings.
“A key example is in recruitment. We
need to encourage the best young
people, inspire them through excellence
in education and training, and provide
www. cranfield.ac.uk/alumni
HONOURS ROUND
ALL
Cranfield ‘keeps’ the RAeS presidency and features in the honours list
� Lee Balthazor (left) with Ian Poll at the
handing-over ceremony
the exciting and innovative job and
development opportunities to attract
and retain them. I believe that the
Cranfield College of Aeronautics is well
placed to provide the multi-disciplinary
approach needed.”
❋ IAN POLL was one of three Cranfield
people named in the Queen’s Golden
Jubilee Birthday Honours List. He
received an OBE for ‘Services to the
Cranfield College of Aeronautics’.
He said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to
have been honoured in this way.
Cranfield College of Aeronautics is very
important to me, having been associated
with it for 27 years. This award shows
that we are valued across the aerospace
community and will encourage me to
try even harder to make it a success.”
Other honours included a CBE for
advisor Ken Maciver, recently retired
General Manager and Executive Vice-
President of TRW Aeronautical Systems,
and Neil Heslop, an MBA graduate from
1992 was awarded an OBE.
Neil, who currently works as a
General Manager for O2 and is a
founder member and trustee of the
charity called Blind in Business, was
recognised for his services to British
Telecom and to blind people.